Thoughts on Winter Weather

Thoughts on Winter Weather

A year ago, we were buried under nearly two feet of snow and ice. The temps were mostly below freezing. Everyone in the neighborhood had large icicles hanging off the eaves. Hubby had nearly worn out our snow shovel with all the snowfalls. The streets around our house were so icy and rutted that it was almost impassable. In parts of town, the residents were snowed in for a couple of weeks. The combination of snow and thick ice was too much for ordinary vehicles. It was a miserable winter.

The ice dam on our house was starting to build, and Hubby worried our roof would be damaged by ice and water leaking. He borrowed a ladder from a very very busy roofing firm (our house is extra tall, and our ladder wouldn’t reach high enough). We pulled the washing machine out (we have a second story laundry room), took the window screen off, disconnected the hot water, and attached a garden hose. Hubby went up the ladder outside the window, took the garden hose, and ran hot water over one section of our roof to melt the ice dam. I was inside directing the hose and hot water. The hot water breached the ice dam and also melted the ice in the gutters and down spout so it had a place to go. He was successful in creating an opening so the melting snow-and-ice water would have a place to drain that wasn’t into the house.

Other people in our neighborhood weren’t as lucky as we were. By spring, many had damaged roofs and water damage inside. A lot of roofing repairs took place in the spring and summer. I’m very lucky to be married to such a resourceful man.

This winter, it’s been below freezing only a couple of nights. We had a week of high 20s and low 30s weather, but since then, we’ve been about 10 to 20 degrees above normal. The snow shovel hasn’t made an appearance outside this year. The only snow we’ve had occurred while we were gone for Christmas. We’ve had some days of rain, but not much. The ski area above Boise is crying for snow. Good thing they installed a slide this year. It may be their only source of income.

I hope we get more rain. The farmers need it, and I don’t have to shovel it. It usually rains here in the valley and snows in the mountains which the skiers would like. My daffodils are starting to poke up into the sunshine, way ahead of schedule. Still, I’m happy we aren’t dealing with ice dams or projected floods. I’ll take a mild winter any time.